Food preparation is a great form of brain exercise

Consider the apparently simple task of cooking two fried eggs, over easy.  First, obtain two eggs. Then have some oil or butter ready to fry them in, and salt and pepper handy to apply when the eggs are cooked. Next, gather together all the cooking and serving ware that you will need: a non-stick pan, a spatula, and a plate for serving the eggs on and a fork for eating them. Place the pan on the burner and set it to high to warm the pan up, and then turn the heat down to low. Place a small quantity of the fat in the pan; while it heats up, swirl it around in the pan to cover the surface. Break the eggs into the pan. Watch them as they cook until the whites start to set. After a minute or two, but while the yolks are still runny, use the spatula to flip them over, taking care not to break open the yolks. Cook long enough for the surface of the yolk to solidify, but leave most of the yolk runny. Use the spatula to lift the eggs out of the pan and on to a plate. Season with salt and pepper. What could be more simple?Read more…

I am not a foodie. Sure, I am an enthusiastic home cook, with more cookbooks than I or my family could possibly use (I have a low threshold that just one decent recipe justifies a cookbook). I willingly drive a little further to visit our local artisanal bakery or butcher shop. I have never been a joiner, but I have paid my dues to the Slow Food movement.

At one time or another, I have subscribed to all of the major cooking magazines. I have read lots of books and scientific articles on food and eating, which is understandable since I recently published a book on the cognitive evolution of food and eating. I have hurriedly rushed out into the garden on a cool autumn afternoon, ahead of the first hard frost of the season, to cut down several basil plants, and then spend the next couple of hours turning them (and a gallon of olive oil) into pesto for freezing.Read more…

I have some friends who are mushroom farmers, specializing in fancier varieties such as shiitakes. They sell them wholesale to a variety of retail outlets and also to restaurants. Once in a while, they load up the delivery truck and sell the mushrooms at farmers markets themselves. When they first started doing this, they did not have much success. They thought they were offering them at a good price, discounted under what they would cost in the supermarket. When they looked around at what other mushroom farmers in the market were selling them for, they realized that they would have to make a price adjustment. So they raised their prices and did much better.Read more…